McKenzie wins two, loses two

 

 

TORI J. NORRIS

The McKenzie Tigers fell to Pleasant Home in area play during both meetings last week.

The Eagles traveled to McKenzie on Tuesday and left with a close 6-5 win. Tigers held the lead until the top of the fifth inning when Pleasant Home tied the game. The Tigers then scored one run in the bottom of the fifth making the score 5-4. However, after a scoreless sixth inning, the Eagles scored two runs in the seventh and the Tigers were unable to score in the bottom of the seventh.

Chris Shufford pitched the entire seven innings. Shufford struck out eight batters, and allowed twelve hits and three walks. Shufford was also pretty solid at the plate batting 3-for-4 and walking once. Jackson Vickery also went 3-for-4 at the plate with three singles.

Thursday night the Tigers traveled to Pleasant Home in hopes of winning the series, however the Tigers only had three hits and lost the tame 10-0 in the fifth.

Although the Tigers only struck out three times, the Eagles were able to make routine plays and get the outs they needed to keep the Tigers scoreless. William Brown hit 2-for-2 and Vickery hit one double.

“I thought we competed and played hard the first game with Pleasant Home,” said Coach Tony Norris. “We just didn’t get the timely hits we needed to win. In the second game, we just did not play defense. We had too many errors and we could not get anything going on offense.”

On Saturday, the Tigers played in county rival Georgiana in a double header, winning both games. Shufford pitched a no hitter in the first game, winning 19-0. The Tigers won the second game with 19 runs as well with a final score of 19-4.

“We played hard and aggressive against Georgiana,” said Coach Norris. “We hit the ball well in both games. During the first game we played good defense and had a few errors but not too many during the second.”

The Tigers will host Highland Home in a varsity double header next Tuesday beginning at 4 p.m.